For a number of reasons and in a variety of conditions, mouth breathing causes or exacerbates snoring, sleep apnea, and/or dry mouth. For example, during use of nasal PAP devices for sleep apnea, positive pressure may be applied to the nose via a nasal mask. However, an open mouth allows the applied positive pressure to simply escape through the mouth rather than open the airway, thus negating the therapeutic value of PAP. Further, even outside of PAP use, breathing through the mouth or having an open mouth may increase snoring, apneas, dry mouth, and the like compared to natural nasal breathing.
A range of products have been proposed to address these problems. For example, PAP full face masks may be used to cover both the nose and the mouth of a user. However, such masks may involve challenges such as sealing and comfort. In addition, chin straps may be used in an attempt to hold up the chin up and keep the mouth closed.
In addition, during normal sleep, jaw opening and/or retraction may encourage collapse of the posterior pharynx and increase airway obstruction. Mouth breathing during sleep also dries the airway. Both of these conditions may encourage snoring. Dry mouth can also cause or exacerbate mouth and gum tissue deterioration and disease and/or tooth decay and disease.
Accordingly, devices and methods for improving breathing, sleep, and/or mouth dryness would be useful.